April 22, 2005
Final Stats
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - UNLV (33-15, 9-2 Mountain West Conference) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and built it to a 5-0 margin before Utah (15-23, 3-8 MWC) was able to get any runs up on their own scoreboard at Ute Softball Field. The Rebels closed out the game with a final of score of 6-2. Jacque Kerrigan (22-13) notched her 22nd win of the year, thanks to a good combination of offense and defense supporting her.
Marissa Nichols put the Rebels up for good when she took Lindsie Nielson (6-12) deep to center field for her 13th home run of the season.
In the fifth, the Rebels put four more runs on the board to extend their lead to 5-0. Caitlyn Paus singled through the left side to advance Nichols to third and took second herself. Nichols had walked with one out to start the Rebel offensive. Brittany Meade brought both runners home with a single through the right side. Kahaunani Kahananui entered the game as a pinch runner for Meade and moved to second on a single to right field by Maggie Livreri. After the second out was recorded Nielson threw a bunted ball, hit by Morgan Bostwick, to the right field fence for an error. Kahananui scored on the errant throw. Bostwick moved up to second on the play. Valerie Keeney singled through the left side to bring Livreri home for the fourth and final run of the inning.
Utah had its chances early in the game as they left eight runners on through the first five innings of the game. In the sixth, they left two more on, but not before they ended Kerrigan's bid for a shutout. Bryanne Durrance singled to left to open up the Ute scoring. After a fly out, Sharee Fonoti singled to left and advanced Durrance to second. A ground out pushed both runners into scoring position. Back-to-back singles by Jackie Wong and Diana Phillips brought home Durrance and Fonoti for the Utes only two runs of the game. Kerrigan got Devina Quintero to line out to Danielle Martinez at short.
Keeney got one of the runs back in the top of the seventh when she hit a two-out single up the middle. Brittany Freight brought Keeney home with a triple to center.
Utah tried to mount a rally in the seventh with a single by Ivette Hernandez, but Kerrigan got the 5-6-7 hitters out in succession to end the game.
Game Notes:
-With the game one victory at Utah, UNLV eclipsed its highest conference win total in any season since the inception of the Mountain West Conference. The previous high was 2002's eight wins.
-UNLV improved to 3-0 against Utah this season, with one game remaining. This is the second time that the Rebels have won the four-game series with the Utes. Last season, UNLV took it 3-1.
-With today's pitching effort, Jacque Kerrigan moved up in the season record book with 33rd start (T-7th), 22 wins (T-6th), 208 strikeouts (2nd).
-Marissa Nichols continues her assault on the single season offensive record book. With her lead off home run in game one, she moved to 5th all-time (13 total). The home run also added to her total hits of 70 (T-7th). She collected four total bases (135 total) to inch closer to Kim Rondina's 162 in 1995. She improved her stolen base mark to 26-for-26 with a swipe in the third inning.
